Patisserie Valerie has appointed former Starbucks EMEA retail and operations vice president, Rhys Iley, to the new role of group commercial director.
As first reported by MCA’s sister title, The Grocer, Iley has joined as the promised “heavy hitter” to lead its front of house operations, completing the new management team under recently appointed chief executive Steve Francis.
MCA understands that Iley had already been in talks with the Luke Johnson-chaired company about joining the management shortly prior to the discovery of a £40m blackhole in its accounts.
In his five years at Starbucks, Iley rose to from running its UK stores to having responsibility for some 700 company-operated stores in the UK, France, Switzerland, Austria and Netherlands, as well as the operations team supporting franchise and licensed stores across the UK and 36 other markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He left in 2017.
In the new role, Iley will be responsible for all store operations at Patisserie Valerie, as well as brand management, marketing and innovation across all the businesses of Patisserie Holdings.
In an exclusive interview with The Grocer last week, Francis said that Patisserie Valerie was “crying out” for a commercial director, as the day-to-day operations had received little attention or innovation while the business was focused almost exclusively on growth. Attracting an executive of Iley’s talent and experience “would surprise” the market, he added, and a “is another testament to the power of our brand”.
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